Chapter Text
“That’s enough!”
Miya Banks stood in front of the court with her battle axe strapped to her back, her armor shining in the morning glow cascading from the stained glass. Her arms remained outstretched, blocking the view of the King from Naofumi under the spears of the guards. The other three heroes blanched at her display from the side.
“But Miya-chan,” Motoyasu started. “He did something so heinous! How could you-“
“I said enough!” The sharp glare in her amber eyes shut the Spear Hero up as she turned and warded off the guards. They tried to hold their stance, but another glare forced them to step back and away from their prisoner. Grabbing Naofumi by the elbows, she helped him stand before the court and the now visible corruption it held.
“Naofumi…” she whispered loud enough for him to hear. The dark-haired man before her, shivering in disbelief at the palpable hatred in the room, with his gaze fixed at the only person who seemed to want to help him. The woman unblinkingly stared him deep in the eyes, almost like she could see the universe and unravel its secrets if she were to hold on long enough.
“I will only ask this once, and I want you to be absolutely truthful…” her velvety voice beckoned to the scared man.
He silently nodded his head.
“Did you do what they are accusing you of? Of almost raping that woman?”
Tears boiled in his eyes, but he kept them open, laying his soul to the woman before him.
“No! I did not do any of that! I didn’t even drink, let alone see Myne-chan after dinner last night!”
The woman paused a moment, analyzing for any lies in his eyes. She slowly nodded and let go of Naofumi’s elbows, turning towards the king and fellow heroes with a confident posture.
“He didn’t do it.”
The court erupted into a gaggle of whispers at the woman.
“Did she just say-“
“Is she on his side?”
“Maybe they were in on it together…”
“How cruel to Myne must she be?”
Miya sighed heavily. No matter what universe, it seems as though people are always the same. Once they believed someone was guilty, then that person always will be guilty. But she knew better than assume and herd with the simpleminded flock.
“Axe Hero… Under what obligations are you to say that this man didn’t do those things?” The King stiffly roused the court into a quiet murmur. “There is apparent evidence insisting that he-“
“Apparent evidence? That he what? Drunkenly took advantage of a woman? I find this all very convenient: that the only hero of the five YOU summoned is getting treated with such coldness.”
Miya stepped closer to the throne as the guards tensed around their ruler. “The worst of times are when lawyers have to force their biggest smiles,” the words of her mentor crossed her mind as her brows furrowed in concentration. A small smile graced her full lips at the gently memory of the greatest man she ever had the honor of working with.
“Yes… There is definitely something fishy going on here. I don’t have all the facts, but I can guarantee my client is innocent of all charges against him!”
The court once again erupts into rumors and here say, and that much irritated Miya. ‘All of these aristocrats are nothing more than rats set up to spread pretty white lies. Their conjecture means nothing in the grand scheme…’
“Client?” the Sword Hero, Ren, questioned the woman.
“Yes, client,” Miya answered, crossing her arms in a serious manner. “Maybe you forgot in the initial excitement of coming here, but I said I was studying to become a lawyer in my world. I was actually interning with one of the best defense lawyers in my country.”
She turned to the court and smiled.
“One of the first things I learned under him was to have faith and trust in your client.”
Itsuki, the Bow Hero, stepped forward.
“But Miya-chan, there’s evidence stacked against Naofumi-“
“And what evidence is that?” Miya retorted, a fire quickly igniting in her eyes. “The underwear found in his room and the words of a woman? Let me ask the court this: if my client was sound asleep and unknowing of being looted in the middle of the night, who is to say that the evidence was not planted to frame him of something horrendous? More so, I would like to see medical records or some testimony of her actually being assaulted by a verified, unbiased physician, someone who, without a doubt can procure actual evidence. Where are the bruises of her struggle? Where are the scratches of a fighting woman on Naofumi’s body? Where are the blood and skin samples under her nails? Everything you have so far is nothing more than circumstantial evidence. Where I am from, these accusations would not hold in the court of law!”
The court, for once, silences at the revelation. The three heroes gawked at the thoughts provoked by the Axe Hero.
That is until Myne opened her mouth.
“That’s r-ridiculous! Are you honestly believing the words of someone who is colluding with that bastard over me!? The victim?!”
“Then how do you explain the lack of injuries?” Miya pressed, crossing her arms. The smirk on her face revealing the corner she backed Myne into.
“W-well, he used healing magic on me to get rid of the evidence!”
“But he doesn’t know healing magic yet. You of all people should know that. You were in his party after all.”
Myne’s eyes widened in shock. “And how would you know?! You weren’t there!”
Miya’s eyes narrowed, but before she could retort, the King yelled out, “Enough!”
Everyone quiets down as the King arose from his throne.
“It is apparent to me that the Axe Hero is colluding with the Shield Hero and should be punished as such.”
Naofumi felt his heart drop into his stomach. Are they seriously not taking anything Miya said seriously? From his position in the middle of the throne room, he can see Myne’s face twist in glee while the other heroes and the court looked on with morbid fascination. He looked towards Miya’s figure, tall and built like an Amazon woman from the manga and stories he used to read about. Her posture was that of a warrior ready for battle, but he knew she couldn’t win this one, even with her words of truth. They just don’t work in a place stagnant with corruption.
“However,” the King continued. “If the Axe Hero denounces her allegiance to the Shield Hero, then all accusations held against her will be dropped.”
He lowered his head in shame for the humiliation that would come next. She’ll abandon him, take their side, maybe throw in some pity because she’s one of the heroes this place seemed to welcome. Nobody would throw away influence like what she had. Even in the short time they had been in this new and cruel world, everyone seemed to like Miya Banks.
“I see… So that’s how you want to play it…”
Here she goes. Here comes the plea to reject him and rejoin to “true and virtuous”…
“If you won’t see the truth…”
Why does this hurt so much?
“Then I’ll just follow my own.”
A solid clank jerked Naofumi’s head forward where Miya untied the leather straps of her heavy armor before chucking each piece to the ground at the other heroes’ feet. Soon she was left in nothing but the basic light tunic and dark pants underneath. Her supplies and coin pouch followed after.
“Miya-chan!? W-what are you doing?!” Motoyasu exclaimed with a heavy blush on his face. Miya scoffed indignantly.
“What does it look like? I’m supposed to be a conspirator of the Shield Hero, right? If you take alienation on him as a punishment, then I shall take the same thing.”
She turned to the rest of the court.
“But just know this!” she yelled indiscriminately towards the heavens. “The lot of you will get your karma for vilifying the wrong man, and nothing you say or do will make me believe Naofumi, the Shield Hero, is anything less than the good man he is!”
She abruptly turned to the other three heroes with a pointer finger outstretched.
“And you three better pull your heads out of your asses and see this world for what it is: real and cruel.”
Miya Banks then stalked over to Naofumi, who remained speechless at her act. She gently grasped his elbow and pulled him towards the grand doors.
“Lady Miya!” a voice called out. Miya halted and turned to a group of three people, her party as Naofumi remembered. The head fighter, a rugged man marred with a plethora of scars stepped forward.
“Please, reconsider your decision, my Lady!” he and the other two, both female mages, bowed onto their knees before them. “No good will come from making an enemy of the court.”
Miya turned away from them towards the doors.
“If following my heart makes me an enemy of the court, then so be it. But the real question is whether or not you have the guts to follow me.”
There was a pause, but none of Miya’s previous party made a move to join their leader.
“Pathetic…” she muttered as Naofumi took the lead out of the castle. “So pathetic…”